Description

The subject of this text is command control communication and information (C3I), which is the management infrastructure for any large or complex dynamic resource system. Decision-making is the essence of C3I, which is accomplished through phased implementation of a set of facilities, communications, personnel, equipment and procedures for monitoring, forecasting, planning, directing, allocating resources, and generating options to achieve specific and general objectives. A C3I system is a decision-making network that reflects a hierarchical organization of C3I nodes. Each node is responsible for the management of some portion of the available resources, where the higher level nodes are responsible for a correspondingly greater portion of the resources. Within a C3I system, both command and control decision-making occur at every level of the hierarchy. Command decisions at one level determine how to satisfy the management decisions at a higher level.
By taking similar national and international systems as a model, this book explains how the management infrastructure can be planned and designed using available technologies, techniques and standards to achieve stated user operational requirements, including time and cost constraints which may be imposed on the system. The book discusses design requirements and the technical and operational issues raised, and then deals with the main subject of designing C3I systems. This text should serve as a useful reference to professionals and C3I system designers.